jbdinos

I am anxiously awaiting the one I won... but if I have to choose.. I'd rather have the ads

When I first started Black Friday shopping, the earliest opening time was Walmart at 6 am in our town. My husband and I had just met and having both been single parents prior, we had limited finances and 5 kids total ages 10 and under. I would send the oldest to her dad's and take the little ones (1, 3, 4, and 6) with me in their PJ's. I put them all in a cart together and I kept one hand on the cart at all times. I didn't brave any area that there was a lot of fighting, etc and I told many many fibs about who I was buying things for (large family) and that if they wanted one they could ask Santa. We just could not find a sitter for that many and if we found one we wouldn't have been able to afford the sitter. Never did I put them in a dangerous situation and when they were a couple years older, my husband had a job where he was home when I left to shop so I no longer had to take them. This allowed me to pull my sister into the mix and she and I now shop in a bigger town with more choices at crazier hours. Also, I wouldn't take a little one to a new store that you haven't checked out on BF a prior year. The town we go to I would have no problem taking a child to the JCPenney, the Kmart, or even the Walmart... but I would not take any child to Target.. saw an arrest last year as well as a ton of pushing/shoving.. plus it's VERY cold and you do have to wait outside for a long time. But you can kind of judge what the crowd will be like based on past history of a store as well as what is in the ad for them if you've done this for more than a year or so. So I think that each person needs to decide based on their kids' willingness and ability to be up at those hours, the weather, etc. However I currently have 4 and 8 year old grandchildren and I wouldn't take either of them shopping on Black Friday. First they "want" everything, they will whine if they walk too far, and in general are not good shopping companions for anything longer than 20-30 minutes. Of course, my teenage boys are almost as bad if they have to shop too long so they will stay home and babysit their nieces in exchange for a delivered pizza for lunch... If anyone in my area needs a sitter... both my boys love kids and will work for food... lol

I can't win but my favorite thing is getting to spend the day with my sister with no kids! We so rarely get that time and I look forward to our annual "date".

http://gottadeal.com/redplum.php

Harbor Freight Oct 20

Low Fat / Sugar Free Pumpkin Muffins (makes 20 small muffins) - 78 calories each and 1 gm of fat each 3 eggs 2 cups splenda 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce 1 can (15oz) of 100% pure pumpkin 1 1/4 cup fat free milk 1 1/2 tsp salt 1 1/4 tsp baking powder 3/4 tsp baking soda 3 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp nutmeg 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour Mix first 3 ingredients in blender until smooth and creamy. Then add the pumpkin and milk until all mixed. Add all dry ingredients and mix until lumps are gone and it's all mixed together good. Put in muffin tins and bake at 350 for about 20 min until done.

#1 These umbrellas aren't really blocking the bright lights from the sign at all... how do they expect us to get any sleep while we wait?!?! #2 Ok, guys on the count of 3 I will open this door... and then we run.. ready... 1.... 2.... HEY SLOW DOWN!!!!! #3 The doorbuster deals were fake.. but America's Most Wanted has made another arrest

I got the 30% in the mail today. The code is SAVENSUMMER

They are safe and so is the diet... but as freesia39 says, it definitely should be done under doctor's care. Most side effects are simply from something else going on in your body and changing your nutrition without correcting any underlying causes. Other side effects are from not using the drops in the correct manner. And yes, as dealdiva says, eating only 500 calories a day you are going to lose weight. No way around it. HOWEVER, the difference is that the hCG targets the body's stored fat cells and introduces them into the blood stream as fuel. Therefore making a person feel as though they are "full" with only the 500 calories. But it's not like you can go have a cheeseburger or fries for the 500 and call it a day. There is a strict list of foods to choose from and you have to make the appropriate choices from each of the types allowed. This is to make sure your body has the correct nutrition while eating the VLC diet. Plus heavy exercise is discouraged on the diet because you are not eating enough to fuel muscles for workouts, etc. So perhaps this is a great way to jumpstart weight loss when someone feels they are just too heavy to be able to move and start getting the weight off on their own. For myself, the choices on the 500 calorie diet are just not acceptable to me long term. So I have chosen a different route and have been very successful in losing almost 60 pounds in 4 months. The biggest advantage to me with choosing to eat right, eat correct portions, and exercise is that our family can all eat right together, including the kids. Only one meal to cook each time we eat instead of one for them and one for me. Plus we are exercising and moving and being active as a family and that's what it's all about for me. Enjoying my family and life. :) Good luck to all trying to lose weight, whether it's hCG or any other diet plan. :)

TY OP.... I was all done shopping but for 4.00 each Santa can bring one more to each of my grandbabies :)

Best Buy... only because there is none close enough to me .... of course if there were one close and something I wanted bad enough I would probably cave in and join the madness....

It started moving very slowly for me.... I kept my fingers crossed and was surprised when the order confirmation popped up. My hubby was trying from work also and it crashed on him too.

I got the mixer for 90% off and can pick it up at my local store tomorrow morning for free shipping too!!!!

In the past I have always done the tree on Thanksgiving and let the kids decorate it while we were out shopping on Black Friday. Last year I wanted to get a new tree on BF... which I did... but at the same time we became so overly busy at work that we started working OT and Saturdays and I was so tired we never got the first decoration put on the tree and no nutcrackers... bare tree and stockings.. that was it... so I have felt cheated ever since.... In case we get swamped again this year... I am not taking chances... so this past weekend I cleaned and cleaned the house good and gonna put everything up this coming weekend so that I have 2 whole months to enjoy them ... I know what the family will say.. .and you know what I don't even care

Up until last year, the other manager and myself always did something nice for every staff member and each other. The other manager would get $20 gc each.. and I would spend 5-10 each and they would get something 20+ in value..... they seemed to enjoy it.. they would take up $10 each in donations and split this in g/c for both of us... We never felt they had to do this and told them it was appreciated but they shouldn't feel obligated. Last year, the lady that was always put in charge of doing the g/c retired... and so another lady that never liked her basically came to us and said "ok.. so and so isn't here and we aren't doing things her way anymore so we all discussed it and please don't buy us anything so we don't feel obligated to donate money for the two of you".... we told them that we never felt they needed to do that and they were adamant they wanted NOTHING from us... so we did exactly that.. then several of them were upset... seems we can't win... So this year... I am gonna make some homemade candies... and just put them in little tins I have leftover and drop one off at each person's cubicle with no name as to who they are from, etc... simply it will be small and not much, but maybe it will stop the ones that are upset from getting nothing, but respectful to those that didn't want us to spend $$ on them. Also, in May I was given the opportunity to go to the other office on the West Coast... spending that time getting to know the folks out there makes me want to do something for them also so I think I am going to do a very large tin full of candy/cookies/etc and send it out to them to put in their break room at work... and send a smaller tin to each of the new owners' homes for them and their families to enjoy to let them know that we are thinking of them and appreciate the new opportunities they have given us over the past year.... That way.. it's just the "oh, she loves to cook" thing and no one feels obligated to return the effort of homemade goodies :) Or so I hope...

We also go by the comparable retail value of the gifts we buy, not the price paid. When you are a GD member you just know that you never pay what it's really priced at... that is a sin, right? However, we used to give gifts that were 40-50 dollars and sometimes spent less than 10... no one told us it made them uncomfortable, but someone the family came up with the idea that we are "rich" although we were spending less than half on gifts for bdays, etc as they were. I would hear them talking about us and basically if we couldn't find a deal and went with cash we would get bad mouthed for being "cheap" even if the cash (or gift card) was more than whatever the "norm" was for most of the family. So I just basically stopped worrying about it and go with retail value when there is a limit.. .that way no one ever knows what I really spent. Now that is just the hubby's family.... with my sister (only family I have) and her family ... I can make sure to spend however much $$ I want and she knows that I never pay full price for anything and her kids have no other family on either side to spend on them so I do kinda go overboard a little bit for them. However... for years I could barely afford dollar store gifts for even our own kids and my sister was always there making sure they had nice things (she still does). Now that I can afford to find deals and spoil my neices.. I intend to continue doing it ... and my sister is always impressed by what I spent. As for my own kids... the ones at home are 11, 13, 14, and 16... and they still count total gifts, not $$... of course, they know they can't count the $$ exactly as they wouldn't want to figure out which way to add it up (value vs. actual cost)... and the important thing is they have the same number of gifts in the pile and that they each love their gift... then they each think they got the best Christmas gifts... I go WAY overboard on the 2 grandkids though.. simply their parents can't afford a generous Santa year... and so we make up for it... even my greediest of kids said that it doesn't bother her for the grandkids to get more cause she knows that if it weren't for us they wouldn't get much at all.... seems like I have taught her right... no budget set... but within reason we do what is right for each child :)

Started early... as usual... I have no choice with 5 kids.... I think we are done with the 3 in the middle (the teens)... well except for ordering the class ring for the oldest one.... this weekend's free shipping and 20% off at pac sun finished them off.... I need a few more shirts and a camera for the youngest... and I need everything for the oldest and her hubby still... I know what they are getting, just trying to find a deal... :) The grandbabies are done... ok.. probably not really.. but they are too cute and being my only 2 princesses at the moment I feel compelled to spoil them rotten.... So I guess I am about 60% finished.... Black Friday shopping is for the hubby and the names we will draw from his family for that get together.... and the rest of Black Friday is to have fun, find things on sale I don't need but I really want... and sometimes to pick up birthday gifts for the boys' birthdays in January....

When our kids were much younger I did take them. Simply I didn't have family or friends able to watch them and to hire a sitter from the newspaper for one day is scary.. but also for 5 kids would have been extremely expensive. So I took the kids, sometimes in PJ's, sometimes not. Either way, I never let them get in harm's way although I do remember one year when the youngest was a little over a year old and he was in his PJ's and snowsuit with blankets on him and it was snowing... he was warm.. my arms felt like they weighed 50 pounds each from holding him against me so long as I think he gained weight as time went on... Fortuneately, a few years ago I had a niece get old enough to babysit and finances allowed me to pay her or to bring her back a special surprise and now it is my day alone with my sister. We look forward to our "date" alone together every year. And I am thankful my kids are now old enough to stay home alone and I can just wake up and leave. They know on Thanksgiving Mom is going to bed early and they better not be loud or Santa won't come visit them. Would I take them out now? If I felt I needed to, yes. I have no problem with kids as long as they are being taken care of, kept warm, etc. I have been there... when I had to... I simply don't want to take them as that is my time away from them and they are too old to believe my old stories of "this truck is for us to give your cousin for Christmas, and if you like it that much I will be sure to ask Santa to get you one just like it"... it worked for a while... but at ages 11, 13, 14, 16, and 22 I think they have caught on.

Pumpkin Roll 3 eggs 1 c sugar 2/3 c pumpkin 3 tsp pumpkin pie spice 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 3/4 c all purpose flour Mix all ingredients together except the flour. After well mixed stir in the flour and mix well. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake 15 min on a well greased and wax papered pan. Cool for 15 min in the pan then turn out on a tea towel and cool for 10 min. Then roll up with towel and wax paper and let cool completely. Unroll, fill and re-roll. I sprinkle with powdered sugar then cover with saran wrap and then refrigerate for 2 hours. Filling: 1 pkg of cream cheese softened 4 TBS butter or margarine 1 c powdered sugar 1 tsp vanilla Blend until smooth.

anyone else in the Red Baron party get the cooler yet? I am wondering how it shipped as it was supposed to arrive by today and I have been out of town and having my sister check for deliveries and nothing yet which worries me that it could be sitting in the post office thawing out.

Just got an email on the Red Baron party that the party kits are shipping... two different shipments... one of them is a red baron cooler with the actual product inside... set to deliver sometime prior to May 4th... and of course I will be out of town when it arrives so I need to find someone to check my house every day so they don't thaw and spoil while I am gone

I just got an email this morning that I got in on this one.. :)

I had this come up early this morning on my recommendation list on Amazon. Had to order twice to get one for both of my granddaughters. Lucky to all who got in as now it is $8.35 and it says only 2 left in stock.

I just got an email to confirm that I got into this house party... :)

TY OP... I am after 3 EST but it still worked... :)